Singapore anti-graft official indicted

SINGAPORE – A Singapore court on Wednesday charged a senior anti-corruption official with siphoning off $1.4 million of government money to fund his casino gambling habit.

Edwin Yeo Seow Hiong, 39, an assistant director at the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau, is accused of misappropriating 1.76 million Singapore dollars worth of government funds. Yeo faces additional charges of forgery under the city-state’s tough anti-corruption laws for using the money to gamble at a casino and after he allegedly duplicated a receipt voucher worth SG$370,755.

Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean expressed concern that a senior anti-corruption officer had been charged with fraud. He said the case, the latest involving a top civil servant, had prompted a review of supervisory procedures in government agencies.